Another day. Kind of a rambly show today all. We're back to talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly in state and national politics.

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On today’s show, we'll get into a little news tonight. Lots going on, of course, but after this past Friday's show, I just can't seem to stop thinking about what we've done to education, our kids, and our culture.

What's on your mind?

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A container ship hits the Fracis Scott Key bridge in Baltimore causes the bridge to collapse and six workers to lose their lives. 

After John Fetterman stakes out hawkish support for Israel and distances himself from progressives, his staff is leaving him in droves. 

Former Senator and Vice Presidential candidate, Joe Lieberman died this week. Let that signal the passing of one of the more destructive factions and ideologies in the Democratic Party. 

NBC hires then fires Ronna McDaniel the election-denying, former head of the GOP, 

School absences have exploded and continue in the post-COVID world. 

University of Florida is going after faculty members that they thing “interferred” with the university’s new Hamilton Center for Classical and Civic Education - the newly establish beachhead for so-called “classical education” and the “Western canon” - one of the buzzwords used by Christian nationalist and far-right activists seeking to whitewash American education and bolster a white, Christian, and celebratory narrative. 

Boston University’s administration had some suggestions for faculty members during the current strike by graduate students: Have AI do the work instead.  

A new Indiana law will require professors to promote “Intellectual diversity” - of face disciplinary actions. What does that mean? It means entertaining even fascist ideas as just another set of ideas. Was Hitler wrong? Well, let’s look at argument for and against Nazism, shall we? 

The University of Kentucky’s presidents seeks to disband their Faculty Senate and turn decision-making over to the university’s Board of Trustees. 

Bucks County sues Big Oil for lying about the climate crisis. 

PA’s Primary is right around the corner. We’ll give you the dates and deadlines you need to know.

Just about a month from the PA primaries. Climate crisis in the headlines. Federal chaos and local right-wing movements. Yes, it's an election year. We're back to talk about the good, the bad, and the ugly in state and national politics.

Imagine that. Another “nail-biting’ vote to prevent a government shutdown before tonight’s midnight deadline. This is the dramatic sit-com version of politics that the Republicans want to keep renewing.

Lots of not so good news on the climate crisis front. 

• Republicans wage war on electric vehicles
• Big Oil and Gas industry lobbyists successfully gutted new building codes that called for making new construction electric ready. Oh, and look, John Fetterman says he might vote with the Republicans. 
• SIxteen States are suing Biden Administration over their move to halt new exports for Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) in order to study the effects on climate, national security, and the economy.
• Record-setting heat hits Rio de Janeiro - a heat index of 143 degrees.
• Scientists can’t account for the continued record-setting ocean temperatures
• And so much more. 

The United States falls out of the top 20 happiest countries for the first time since the annual World Happiness Report began in 2012 by the United Nations. Gee. I wonder why. And young people are leading the unhappiness charge. 

Several new strike votes in higher education.

The Washington Post runs the bio of new Palisades School District School Board Member, Linda Wenhold. How does a local school board member get a full profile in the Washington Post? Well, apparently it helps if you take and teach classes with the Christian Nationalist Patriot Academy, advocate for your school district to teach that America’s true history is a Christian nation, and argue that attempts to make schools welcoming and accessible for all kids are secret plots to Marxists and secular leftists to destroy America. 

Bucks County Beacon announces it’s first annual Beacon Fest to support the work of the Beacon and bring trouble-makers of all sorts together! The event will be on June 1 @ Snipes Farm in Morrisville, PA.

If we want a progressive future, we need progressive media. Support pull-no-punches, homegrown progressive media today by becoming a patron of Raging Chicken for as little as $5/month. Simply go to Patreon.com/RCPress. Help keep the media in the movement and the movement in the media. Become a patron for as little as $5/month by going to Patreon.com/RCPress.

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At least 112 hungry and desperate Palestinians were killed early Thursday morning trying to get much needed food and medical aid. Some of the dead were gunned down by Israeli troops, others were run over by the aid trucks attempting to flee the scene. 

In a huge announcement, Starbucks officially announced that it will no longer work to oppose unionization efforts by its employees. Now that nearly 400 Starbucks stores have voted to unionize, and founder and former CEO, Howard Shultz, is no longer running the company, it seems that Starbucks Workers United will now be heading to contract negotiations in good faith. In a joint statement, Starbucks and Workers United said they will, “begin discussions on a foundational framework designed to achieve … collective bargaining agreements for represented stores and partners” 

Thousands of academic workers are on strike at York University in Toronto. On Thursday, members of other unions across Ontario joined the picket lines in support of their striking brothers and sisters. 

Last week, the Pennridge School District - the first in the nation to hire the Hillsdale-inspired Vermillion Education to rewrite their social studies and English curriculum through a Christian nationalist lens - officially scrapped the Hillsdale proposed curriculum. 

An Illinois court has kicked Trump of this year’s Republican Primary ballot, all but assuring another round of Supreme Court decisions. The order has been put on hold pending appeal. Early voting has already begun in the state. 

Mitch McConnell announced he’s retiring from Senate leadership after this year’s election. Let the all out Senate Republican civil war commence. 

“Uncommitted” is set to win two delegates from Michigan as the protest over Biden’s unwillingness to stop the Israeli government’s genocidal war in Gaza. 

Washington State’s largest labor union - the United Food and Commercial Worker - has endorsed “uncommitted” in this year’s Democratic Primary. 

In one of the most brazen statements of late from Big Oil, Exxon scolded the world in a recent interview in Fortune magazine saying that Exxon and other fossil fuel companies are not to blame for the climate crisis. Who is? Everyone else but them it appears. Exxon CEO Darren Woods told the magazine, “the world waited too long” to develop green technologies and that "people who are generating the emissions need to be aware … and pay the price." Who are those people? You guessed it, you and me. 

Treacherous blizzard is bearing down on the Sierra Nevada mountain range in California. The storm is expected to dump up to 10 feet of snow with winds already peaking at 145 mph. 

The Smokehouse Creek Fire in Texas has now become the second largest wildfire in U.S. history, burning more than a million acres of land just north of Amarillo - an area larger than the entire state of Rhode Island. 

Former professor at Albert Einstein College to cover all future medical school tuition.

On today’s show, I welcome Steve Oross and Lorrie McKinley to the show.

Steve Oross is an Associate Professor of psychology at Kutztown University and as listeners of this show will recall, in Fall 2021 Steve Oross was denied ADA accommodations by Kutztown University’s administration. Oross had a heart transplant in February 2021. Following months of physical therapy and treatment, his doctors cleared him to return to work in Fall 2021 provided that he taught his classes online given that COVID was still rampant and would pose a significant risk to his life. Rather than providing Oross with accommodations, the administration said the only way they would allow him to return to work would be if he taught in-person. Rather than risk his life or being forced to go on unpaid leave pr losing his job, Oross decided to fight. Thanks to his determination and the amazing advocacy of his attorney, Lorrie McKinley, Oross won his case. Steve’s experience has led him to wider spheres of advocacy as well.

Steve is a Team Member with the World Health Network focusing on Legal Action for Policy Change. He has also become involved in the Organ Donation Awareness Corporation which is a student-led organ donation advocacy group with chapters in NYC and Nashville, Tennessee, involving other students from around the country. He will be participating in a series of webinars with this group focused on promoting organ donation among young adults.

Lorrie McKinley, is one of the few lawyers in the Philadelphia area with undisputed expertise in both employment law and special education advocacy and litigation. She is a passionate, bold and creative advocate with a long track record of protecting the civil rights of employees and students under the nation’s civil rights law at every level of the state and federal courts.

Lorrie is widely recognized for her contributions in the employment provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act as well as her advocacy on behalf of children with special needs.

Prior to entering private practice in 1997, Lorrie served as Project Head for the Employment Law Project at Community Legal Services, Inc. in Philadelphia. In 1997 she argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in a case involving constitutional due process issues for people receiving medical benefits pursuant to the Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Act. Her work in that case is highlighted in an exhibit in the Supreme Court Section of the United States Constitution Center in Philadelphia.

For over a decade, Lorrie has been selected by her peers as one of the “Best Lawyers in America.” Since 2008, she has also been listed as a “Super Lawyer” by Thompsons Reuters based on peer recognition and professional achievement.

LINKS:

• Oross v. Kutztown University | https://casetext.com/case/oross-v-kutztown-univ
• McKinley & Ryan, LLC | https://www.mckinleyryan.com/
• "Kutztown professor with heart transplant should have been able to teach from home, judge says," Susan Snyder, The Phildadelphia Inquirer | https://bit.ly/49PcBNL
• Out d'Coup LIVE | Steve Oross - Kutztown U Demands Faculty Member to Choose Between Life and Livelihood, Sept. 6, 2021 | https://bit.ly/3h9EuqZ
• Disability Rights PA | https://www.disabilityrightspa.org/

If we want a progressive future, we need progressive media. Support pull-no-punches, homegrown progressive media today by becoming a patron of Raging Chicken for as little as $5/month. Simply go to https://www.patreon.com/rcpress. Help keep the media in the movement and the movement in the media. Become a patron for as little as $5/month by going to https://www.patreon.com/rcpress.

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On today’s show, we'll get into a little news tonight. We had Kathryn Joyce on the show this past Friday, so we're swapping our Monday for a news roundup. What's on your mind?

If we want a progressive future, we need progressive media. Support pull-no-punches, homegrown progressive media today by becoming a patron of Raging Chicken for as little as $5/month. Simply go to https://www.patreon.com/rcpress. Help keep the media in the movement and the movement in the media. Become a patron for as little as $5/month by going to https://www.patreon.com/rcpress.

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On today’s episode, I welcome Kathryn Joyce to the program. We'll be talking about her recent article in Vanity Fair, "How the Far Right Took Over a Pennsylvania School Board - And How Parents Took It Back." Yes, we're talking about the Pennridge School Board and the unexpected and game-changing victory by the Pennridge Community Alliance candidates this past fall that flipped five open seats on the board. 

Kathryn Joyce is an investigative editor at In These Times, a freelance investigative reporter, and the author of two books: The Child Catchers: Rescue, Trafficking and the New Gospel of Adoption and Quiverfull: Inside the Christian Patriarchy Movement.

Kathryn was formerly a reporter with Type Investigations and Salon, a contributing editor at The New Republic, and a contributing writer at Highline. Her work has also appeared in numerous publications including Mother Jones, The Marshall Project, Longreads, The New York Times Magazine, Vox, The American Prospect, The Intercept, The Nation, Cosmopolitan, Adirondack Life, The Atlantic, Ms., The Harvard Divinity Bulletin, and many others. 

She is formerly the editor of Political Research Associates’ quarterly magazine The Public Eye, and teaches as an adjunct lecturer in Brooklyn College’s political science department.

If we want a progressive future, we need progressive media. Support pull-no-punches, homegrown progressive media today by becoming a patron of Raging Chicken for as little as $5/month. Simply go to Patreon.com/RCPress. Help keep the media in the movement and the movement in the media. Become a patron for as little as $5/month by going to Patreon.com/RCPress.

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On today’s show, you probably already heard the news. Taylor Swift won the Super Bowl. Yup, that's what happened. Meanwhile, our democracy continues to deteriorate and our collective politics get more unhinged. All the more reason to get with the people in your communities and continue to organize on principles of care.

What's on your mind? Would love to know.

If we want a progressive future, we need progressive media. Support pull-no-punches, homegrown progressive media today by becoming a patron of Raging Chicken for as little as $5/month. Simply go to Patreon.com/RCPress. Help keep the media in the movement and the movement in the media. Become a patron for as little as $5/month by going to Patreon.com/RCPress.

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On today’s show, we’re taking a break from our focus on PA and head north to the Central New York region…yes, the place I grew up. We’ll be talking to James Meyers, a Democrat running for the New York State Senate in the 53rd District. The 53rd is significantly different following New York’s redistricting in 2022. The district now includes my hometown of Utica, NY. Meyers hopes to defeat Republican Joseph Griffo in this fall’s general election.

Meyers is running for the 53rd New York State Senate District with the aim of bringing a fresh approach to representing Central New Yorkers in their state government. He is a veteran with a strong background in service and leadership. Meyers grew up in a working-class environment in Upstate New York in a family who dedicated their professional lives to the service of others. After graduating from SUNY Brockport via an ROTC scholarship with a degree in history, he accepted a commission into active service as an intelligence officer in the United States Army. He currently holds the rank of Major in the Army Reserve.

While serving in the U.S. Army Reserve, he earned a master’s degree in strategic intelligence. His military service led to a position with Alion Science and Technology, a government contracting firm in Rome, NY where he was responsible for the management and completion of million-dollar projects. His love for central New York, the influence of his family, his education, military career and civilian experience, James is motivated to serve our community with the same passion and dedication he has and continues to serve our country.

Meyers is running on a platform of transparency, accountability, and putting the needs of his constituents first. He is an advocate for public safety, economic development, and accessible and affordable healthcare.

LINKS:

• James Meyers for State Senate webpage: https://www.james-meyers.com/
• Follow on Twitter: https://twitter.com/MeyersforNY
• Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/meyersforstatesenate
• Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meyersforsenate

If we want a progressive future, we need progressive media. Support pull-no-punches, homegrown progressive media today by becoming a patron of Raging Chicken for as little as $5/month. Simply go to Patreon.com/RCPress. Help keep the media in the movement and the movement in the media. Become a patron for as little as $5/month by going to Patreon.com/RCPress.

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Can you believe it's already February?!? What's going on folks? We'll get into some of the good, the bad, and ugly in state and national politics.

Today:

• Have we seen the end of Moms for Liberty? Don’t count on it. 
• GOP operative Clarice Shillenger’s hypocrisy heading to trial. Who knows, maybe we’ll find out the Paul Martino will be chipping in on her legal bills too? I mean, he did bankroll her attacks on public schools…but that was before his Philly restaurant went bust…so, who knows. 
• And we’re seeing Souderton School District and the Kutztown Area School District organizing to beat back the kind of right-wing extremism we’ve been dealing with in Pennridge and Central Bucks.
• New coalition, PAWInS, launches to coordinate information and organizing against extremist attacks on public schools in PA. 

If we want a progressive future, we need progressive media. Support pull-no-punches, homegrown progressive media today by becoming a patron of Raging Chicken for as little as $5/month. Simply go to Patreon.com/RCPress. Help keep the media in the movement and the movement in the media. Become a patron for as little as $5/month by going to Patreon.com/RCPress.

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